Chapter 229: Chapter 228 Auditor Chapter 229: Chapter 228 Auditor Madeth glanced at the boy and dismissed him, “Alright, since you can’t name yourself, Johnson will be your name. Now, you, get out.”
The boy who had suddenly become “son,” the third one, lowered his head and walked towards the door. At the threshold, he mustered up the courage to speak, “Um, Teacher Madeth, I… I… actually, my name is Ken, Ken Stanford Nora.”
“Get out!” was Madeth’s one-word response.
The third boy’s expression froze, and he scurried out of the door dejectedly.
The people outside stifled their laughter, but none dared to laugh out loud.
Inside, Madeth urged on, “Next! Hurry up, don’t waste my time!”
The fourth boy entered the stone building.
Having learned from the experiences of the previous few, the fourth boy had become much smarter. Without waiting for Madeth to speak, he quickly replied, “Teacher Madeth, my name is Kunni, Kunni Yamosi Da…”
But his words were cut short when he saw Madeth’s gaze, which withdrew from the door frame with a hint of disdain, fall upon him, turning utterly cold and… murderous.
Madeth spoke up, rebuking the fourth boy, “Did I ask you anything? Just answer the question! What? Smart aleck!”
“You know you’re just a low-level talent or have no talent at all, right?”
“Knowing that, why all the useless chatter? Let me tell you, here at the White Stone Tower Academy, those with low-level or no talent have no name.”
“You all are uniformly called auditors!” Madeth announced, flipping her hand and producing a black metallic name tag. It was similar in size and style to the previous gold and silver name tags, and the back also featured characters for identification and a miniature image of the White Stone Tower, but the material was notably inferior, and instead of a name, there was a series of numbers on the front.
“This is your name tag, take it,” Madeth said, tossing the black name tag to the fourth boy like a bone, curtly adding, “Get out. If I hear you speak another word, I’ll cut off your tongue.”
The fourth boy, eyes widened in terror, covered his mouth and hurriedly ran out of the stone building with the name tag.
This time, the people outside were not laughing. Their eyes shifted, beginning to understand something: once on the giant ship, due to differences in talents, different cabins were assigned, and although there were some grievances, they didn’t think much about it. But now, at the White Stone Tower Academy, the distinctions caused by talent were clearly being displayed.
Elite student? Formal student? Auditor?
The testing continued.
A moment later, Richard walked out from the crowd toward the stone building.
Regarding the talent detection at the doorway, Richard wasn’t worried. After all, he had already confirmed during the testing by Third-level Apprentice Hua’er in Cuijin City — he had no talent. As for the fluctuations of mana and magic origin within his body, he didn’t expect them to be exposed. After all, in Cuijin City when Hua’er was testing, he had successfully concealed them using “Extraordinary Concealment” recorded in the Monroe Chapter. Furthermore, he now had the additional protection of Old Marlon’s “Concealing Breath Skill,” so there shouldn’t be any mistakes.
Thinking this, Richard walked confidently into the stone building. When he passed the door frame, he felt a surge of mana flow through his body, conducting a brief scan.
After the scan, Richard stood still inside the stone building and saw Madeth raising her head to look at him, voicing her disdain, “Hmm, another person with low-level or no talent. It seems the quality of this intake is much worse than the last, Dempsey is doing worse and worse…”
Madeth muttered under her breath and then rummaged under the table, the next moment throwing another black name tag at him.
Richard caught it with a “snap.”
Madeth said, “Get out, next.”
Richard didn’t linger, nodded, and turned to leave the building.
A moment later, Richard found himself in the vast and unfamiliar White Stone Tower Academy.
In one hand, he held two black identity name tags — his and Pandora’s. His other hand held Pandora, who was pulling a suitcase, her eyes half-lidded and body swaying back and forth as if she might fall asleep at any moment.
This was over an hour after the talent testing had concluded.
During the preceding hour, Richard had escorted Pandora along with the other students through numerous inspections and had been informed of many matters.
Later, Madeth announced with a cold face, “The orientation for new students ends here. Auditors follow the numbers on your name tags to find your dormitories and wait for the school term to start.”
After speaking, Madeth led the formal students and a few elite students aside. Clearly, there was more she needed to explain to the formal and elite students. The auditors, however, did not receive this treatment, treated like children neglected by a stepmother.
Many of the low-talent auditors felt a shadow cross their hearts, like Gro, who appeared extremely aggrieved and indignant. However, for Richard, it wasn’t a big deal, even somewhat satisfying. Being neglected meant he wouldn’t attract much attention and wouldn’t need to maintain much of a facade. This allowed him to do some things according to his own plans.
For instance, figuring out what the situation with the White Stone Tower Academy was, what the White Stone Tower Wizard Association was like, what was happening on the East Coast, across Mann Continent, and in the entire Wizard World?
In the White Stone Tower, just how many wizards were there, and what were their levels? On the entire East Coast, who was the most powerful wizard, what was his level, and how strong were his abilities?
What level was the wizards’ research on spells at, were they stubbornly sticking to traditional experiences, or were they making continuous breakthroughs?
What was the core that sustained the entire Wizard World, and what was the origin of the world?
Also, he needed to continue advancing a series of studies he currently held in his hands.
For example, utilizing magic runes from the Drifting Bottle, developing functionalities of the Crystal Skull, delving deeper into the Monroe Chapter, manufacturing “Spartan Heroic Potion,” and so forth.
And to get started on all these, he first needed to settle down.
Richard’s eyes twinkled slightly as he continued pulling Pandora forward, raising his other hand and quickly scanning over the sequence number engraved on one of the black name tags: A-233.
“A-233? Should be just ahead,” Richard murmured to himself, gazing towards a nearby stone building, “But judging by its appearance, it seems rather poor.”
Visibly, the building ahead was two stories tall, seemingly made from large chunks of white boulder, but due to its great age, the exterior had turned a pale gray. In the corners, weeds and trash had accumulated, making it look dirty and disheveled.
Richard raised an eyebrow and stepped closer.